'I'm a free-range parent. My kids discover the world without rules or fear'

Cindy Lever |
August 29, 2017

These young Brisbane kids swing axes, use sharp knives and power tools and have no boundaries on when and where they can go exploring in the world.

“I remember Haakon swinging an axe at about four-years-old. He was just playing with it,” recalls Brit, a mother of four from Brisbane.

Brit is a free-range parent and believes children should be able to explore and discover the world without rules and fear being imposed on them. She said it was through watching her first son, Haakon that she realised children have an innate ability to learn and make decisions.

“I could see when he was swinging the axe that it wasn’t about age, it was about whether he was in control and I could see he was,” she said.

Haakon now 12 has moved on from an axe to a chainsaw. Picture: supplied.

No fencing them in

Brit has four boys, Haakon 12, Reuben eight and twins Django and Paccy three, and lives on five acres outside Brisbane where she is building a kit home and will grow her own food and allow the children to roam free.

“We are born with a knowing and understanding of the world at a subconscious level, but learning is about raising the conscious level.

My role is to oversee and guide them because they are more unconscious than adults so they will follow their path without fear of death or being hurt.” Brit said.

She said once the child’s level of consciousness is raised there is no need to force children to do things or make rules.

The children are encouraged to independently use tools and learn. Picture: supplied.

Learning to navigate without fear of danger

At just nine-years-old, Haakon would walk from his house in inner Brisbane along a busy main road about a kilometre and half to Woolworths with his mum’s credit card and buy food.

At 11-years-old he was driving a motor boat on his own through crocodile infested rivers in the Far North.

And now at 12-years-old he uses a chainsaw to cut up firewood, which Brit said, after initially supervising him, he is now capable of doing it on his own.

“I had fear come up, but I knew my energy would have created an accident so the best solution was for me to clear the fear,” she said.

All the children spend their days without shoes, they choose whether they brush teeth, whether they cut their hair, when they go to bed and what they do each day.

When Haakon was five-years-old he would spend up to 12 hours a day playing games on the computer.

“I could see the benefit in the games in terms of learning to read and write and learn maths, so I was ok with it at the time. The anxiety came a few years later when I realised there was more to life,” Brit said.

Three-year-old Paccy chooses his own clothes and is trusted to use knives on his own. Picture: supplied.

Letting them make mistakes

Part of giving the children free-range means allowing them to learn life’s lessons, rather than cocooning them. So, when Haakon, at six-years-old was asked by an online friend in America if he would loan him $10 Brit felt it was a cheap experience for Haakon to find out he was being conned. Haakon still feels strongly affected by this experience today.

For Brit allowing the children free-range comes more from tuning in to them than trusting them.

“It is about observing and going with what their capabilities are, rather than applying a rule, and a low stress lifestyle is crucial to that. If they are stressed playing with a knife, I can see they are not thinking about what they are doing. But when they are not stressed they are conscious of every move,” she said.

Knowing her children individually both emotionally and physically also allows Brit to appreciate fully what she feels they can handle.

However, she said there are still limits to giving them free-range.

The boys come and go as they please. Picture: supplied.

“I would not allow them to do things that would hurt people or driving a car for example. But, when their stress levels are low they can make those decisions themselves,” she said.

Brit believes by giving her children free-range she will equip them with the ability to face challenges because they will have an internal guidance rather than having to look outside themselves for answers.

“It makes them much more confident to navigate by feeling instead of just thoughts and ideas or other people’s expectations,” she said.

kidspot can be viewed on multiple devices

a note about relevant advertising

We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more
relevant to you on our network and other sites. This is also known as Online Behavioural Advertising. You can find out more about our
policy and your choices, including how to opt-out here